West Ham’s Diafra Sakho has been ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations after Senegal claimed they had received 18 warning letters from the London club.
Coach, former France international Alain Giresse, insists he will not now be able to play in the Premier League.
The Frenchman announced this morning: “Sakho is not on the list of 23 players, his back problem is even preventing him from moving.”
But Giresse had earlier told L’Equipe he had received 18 letters warning that Senegal would face huge damages if either Cheikh Kouyate or Sakho were to be injured at the Nations Cup.
Sakho suffered his back injury away on international duty in November amid claims from club manager Sam Allardyce that he had been “mistreated”.
The Senegal coach, who had a “long telephone conversation” with the Hammers manager, said: “He said we could come to some arrangement. That means what? Don’t pick the players. That is not possible. We both can’t be satisfied at the same time.”
Giresse added: “In any case, if they don’t want Sakho to come so they can then play him, they are wrong. He does not have the right.”
Another English Premier League boss, Southampton’s Ronald Koeman, has claimed Sadio Mane’s knee injury will also stop him playing in the tournament, which starts in Equatorial Guinea on January 17. But Giresse said he still intends to call him up on Sunday after the striker has undergone more treatment in England.
“We will see his condition but he will be in the 23,” he said.
The Senegal squad is due to travel to Morocco on Wednesday (January 7) before their first Group C match against Ghana on January 19.
West Ham’s on-loan midfielder Alex Song has retired from international football after being left out of the Cameroon squad.
